Pay Cuts vs. Furlough
While the County Executive would like to present pay cuts, some wonder if this is fair. Would you rather work for less pay per hour, (in other words, work yet not get paid for it) or would you rather just have a few days off and enjoy yourself.
My proposal of furlough days isn't even being considered at the moment but your comments could change that.
Here's some additional ideas for Mr. Pollitt & Mr. Cannon to consider. Heck, the Governor should also consider this for the entire state. Mind you, it may not be popular but I can assure you of one thing, it's not a bad idea.
Look at Teachers getting off two months out of the year. The County used to work "most" of their employees on a 35 hour a week plan. GO BACK TO IT for starters. If County Employees want to keep their jobs, they'll not have an issue going back to what used to be. This will save millions of dollars right off the get go.
Now, here's a more creative idea. Granted, I'd only recommend this IF the State makes more major cut backs.
Go to a system where 50% of your staff in each department is furloughed 2 weeks out of the year, period. HOWEVER, make the two weeks work like this. 50% of one department is off during the Christmas Holiday and the other 50% is off during the summer.
This would make it very easy for these people to find work when the most jobs are available, should they choose to work elsewhere and not really lose the two weeks of pay. I'm confident businesses like Boscove's would love to employ quite a few of these people and make arrangements with the County, just as an example. Summer jobs in Ocean City could also be a plus.
The entire idea is to keep everyone working without having to lay people off. Give Officers an opportunity to use their skills elsewhere when the demand is the highest, or anyone else for that matter.
Anyhow, I'm more for the furlough idea because, (believe it or not) it's fair. Taking money out of each employees pocket and punishing them for bad decisions made by the Governor all the way down to the County Executive, or the economy, (if you want to look at it that way) is just plain wrong.
I know our Contributor GA Harrison believes in simply cutting jobs and I don't disagree with him. However, right now there are some options I believe could work out for everyone. I also believe Americans have become so spoiled that they don't think ANY of this is fair. Well, welcome to the real world. Democrats have been playing with credit for far too long and now it's come back to bite them in the butt and if you think times are bad now, wait till you see where we're at in two years, seriously.
So please consider these ideas and let us know if you'd rather take the pay cut or a furlough program. I'd also enjoy hearing what you think of my other ideas and or add to it and let's see if we can't come up with some reasonable solutions before the County Council puts it on the table this Tuesday.
I'm behind the furlough. I know I could find work in December.
ReplyDeletethis county employee says a furlough day for sure AND layoff the non essential jobs. Tourism & Park and Rec. These are luxuries that a gov't can offer not essentials.
ReplyDeleteI want to thank the county council for the evening meeting. IMO it was a success.
ReplyDeleteShouldnt they just let all of you(county employess) vote on it? That would seem fair to me.
ReplyDeleteAs a county worker i have to ask is it true that county executives are exempt, i am sure cutting my 25k willsave more than cutting others that make 125k a year. Makes sense to me....
ReplyDeletethis county employee also favors furloughs. The claim by Pollit that he "can't shut down the GOB" is politically motivated Bullsh!t.
ReplyDeleteI guess he doesn't think we have enough sense to be able to figure out how to rotate employees through these 4,5, and 9 day furloughs. Who the hell says he would have to shut down the GOB anyway and how does the GOB affect the rest of the county agencies. I'll give you a hint - it DOESN'T. Thanks Rick, for kicking us while we are down. We are not opposed to cuts or sacrifices but this is just plain stupid.
9:36...first of all tourism is not funded from county general funds...second it's a pretty lame idea to lay off people who bring $$$ into the local economy....don't believe it?? ask any local restaurant owner or hotelier.
ReplyDeletefurloughs is the way to go!
ReplyDeletefrustrated
The employees should be paid for the days works and given the days off equal to their pay cut. Be fair to the employees. Everyone is hurting.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather have a furlough day as well...I understand the need to balance the budget...however, just give me the day off - I could actually put the days to good use - perhaps volunteer my time in my children's schools helping out or a myriad of other things. Making us work for no pay is kind of like punishing us twice for something that's not our fault to begin with!
ReplyDeleteI'm a County employee as well, and would prefer furlough days versus a straight cut in pay. I also believe the 35 hour work week should be an option for those who want to take that versus a furlough or reduction in pay. I'm in a situation currently, that the 35 hour work week would be beneficial to me, and would actually save more money for the County over the next few years. By cutting my hours by 5 a week, x 52 weeks, would be a total of 260 hours. Making $10 an hour, that would be $2600 less in pay, versus just over $400 by the proposed 1.961% for employees making under $40k. At least listen to employees, or for that matter sollicit their input, and don't do what so many politicians want to do.... RUSH....
ReplyDeleteI agree with the 35 hour work week. Heck, work four days a week, one day without pay and shut down the government office buildings and save on electric and employees can save on gas, wear and tear on their vehicles and daycare.
ReplyDelete10:18 well said, it would also save employees gas expense, food expense, child care expense (in some cases), and allow us to feel like we are doing something "constructive" with our furloughed down time instead of rubbing our noses in it.
ReplyDeleteYou guys have bad info. There will be a furlough day(s) but instead of your pay check being shorted a lot that week, the County is spreading out the loss pay over the rest of the year to lessen the impact. That's why it is being called a reduction. Bottom line, you will have an unpaid day(s) off.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe for posting this poll. Some of these comments are very creative and that is exactly how our county leaders need to be thinking. Hard times are here, harder times might still be in the future and we need to take care of this part of the solution with creativity.
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you how to save the $700,000 and avoid any kind of furlough time, Mr. Pollit. Grow some bal-s and fire the landfill employees you publically claimed in a news conference that had been stealing from us taxpayers for many, many years. Oh, buts that right, they are still employed because you are afraid one of them will sue for wrongful termination. I would rather spend our money on this kind of lawsuit than continue to pay the damn crooks money from our taxes. Damn, this doesn't make any sense. Punish 600-700 employees because you won't fire the landfill criminals.....night job of governance buddy
ReplyDeleteFact Check, no one is disagreeing with what you're saying. It comes out the same in the end. However, you're missing the point and have your FACTS wrong. No matter what, each employee will be making less and working the same hours. Rather than doing that, I'm simply suggesting and asking if employees would rather have a day off, or two, or even more when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteI'm NOT trying to go after Rick Pollitt or anyone else. I'm simply bringing to the table something no one else polled or considered on the employee's behalf.
Clearly they would rather simply have the day off, or aren't you reading.
Rick & the councel should let the employees put it to a vote. Democracy in action.
ReplyDeleteDoug, these are elected officials that were elected to do the right thing for all concerned. They should be trusted to do what is right by their employees in this case and their decision is less than fair. Go back to the drawing board officials.
ReplyDeleteI am a single parent and a county employee. The pay cut is going to have a impact on me and my daughter but I could save some of the work expenses by getting the time off. I hope the leaders will rethink this.
ReplyDeleteThe County is getting the "best of both worlds" by having the employees work a full 40 hour work week, however, cut their pay at the same time. No private entity could or would be able to legally do this to employees - they would have to cut their hours in order to cut their pay - only the government can do such nonsense!!
ReplyDelete"They should be trusted to do the right thing" where have you been for the last twenty years? I dont know if I should laugh or cry. How many county employees are there? 800? How hard would it be to come up with two plans and allow ALL the people whos pay will be affected by this to have a say and vote, just seems like the logical thing to do to me.
ReplyDeleteFact Check 10:33AM, you're an idiot! Furlough day = leave with out pay. Paycut = Work the same, get paid less. My hourly pay would be the same if they did furloughs. My hourly pay is REDUCED if they did paycuts. Sure, you lose the same amount of money over the year, but you are working more when you do paycuts. Not to mention, you never know when you will get your original salary back-that's basically why they did this. They wanted to make it more long-term and permanent. Regardless, back to what I came to say before I was so rudely interupted by Fact Check's moronic comment...
ReplyDeleteI, a County Employee, would prefer furloughs as well. Rick really took money out of my pocket when he went with paycuts instead of furloughs. When all the talk about furloughs came around, I got rather excited (within reason since it would be less people losing their jobs). For me, it meant that I could work an extra day every now and then at my weekend job. I can make $300-500/day bartending at my second job (which is considerably more than what I am making at the County) so I was thinking that I would actually be coming out on the plus side with furloughs.
Then the axe came down from the Exec...WITHOUT consulting or considering the employees' opinions. Same amount of work, less pay with no raises in sight nor even a return to our original salaries in sight...sounds like that gives County Employees real good motivation to do well at their jobs.
Paycuts or Furloughs-they both net the same amount of savings to the County! The paycuts were even based of the equivilent amount in furlough days! So why not furlough days?
Perhaps it's because elected officials, such as Rick Pollitt, are exempt from paycuts, but not from furloughs? But don't worry, he's donating to the Meals on Wheels so that the County will truly benefit during this budget crunch.
Perhaps it's because some of the highest paid County employees are exempt as well: Ted Shea and Matt Creamer. We all know that Shea and Creamer run things around here-it's no big news. We all know that Creamer is the reason why we don't currently have an internal auditor to actually keep things straight with money in the GOB. They will never lose because they run the show-if we clean house and get a whole new administrative support staff, I truly believe that we will see tremendous changes throughout the County! You don't just start from the top in regards to salaries, you start at the top in regards to corruption and lack of responsibility too.
I'm just thankful for Blogs like this where we can now be heard and, hopefully, the local government will clean its act up
Government workers have it too good already. I don't feel sorry for them.
ReplyDeleteTrust Me their listening.
ReplyDeleteRick needs to donate the money back to the county if this deal is really about a deficit. Meals on wheels is an excellent program but the county needs the money now.
ReplyDeletesome good creative thoughts Joe.I prefer these kinds of solutions to people losing thier jobs...and that is going to happen.Whatever our opinions of government are,honest hardworking people are going to be hurt by this and that is a real shame in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteFrankly I think Pollit has been asleep at the switch and should have gone into cost savings mode over a year ago...anyone with a semblance of common sense could see the crunch coming...but we (the county) kept spending as budgeted ,hoping I suppose that someone would pull a rabbit out of a hat and bail us out.
What is scary is that it's far from over...the Obama "plan" ( it's really not a plan to simply print money and spend it recklessly)will mask over the underlying fiscal mess we are in for perhaps 12 to 18 months and then the bottom will fall out again.
11:19..what an atrocious attitude...these are human beings with families to feed and mortgages to meet...I feel sorry for anyone who is being hurt by this economy.Private or public sector
ReplyDeleteTed Shea and Matt Creamer are NOT exempt from this reduction proposal.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like we are on welfare, as a county employee, I work. I would gladly take a furlough day and pick up a side job to make up for a days loss in pay. Shift/personel rotation can be done to compensate a loss of an employee here and there.
ReplyDeleteFriend of ours is a teacher in a very large Virginia Coounty this issue was brought up and voted on by all BOE employees and the vote was everyone top to bottom took a pay cut in order to prevent "anyone" grom losing their jobs. Nice to know everyone took a tough cut for the sake of all.
ReplyDelete11:45 AMEN
ReplyDelete11:19 I guess you don't like your job a K-Mart anymore, do you. I worked two jobs while putting myself through college and for over 20 years have taken continuing education and adult learning classes to try to keep me up-to-date and knowledgable about computers, medical changes - in other words trying to constantly improve my life.
ReplyDeleteThe county gets a good bargain with me for what I do. I don't complain and I completely understand the need for cuts, sacrifice, biting the bullet - whatever you want to call it. I work faithfully and without bitching and will continue to do so. Those with your unimportant and uninformed opinion are truly worthless in the larger scheme of things. You are a loser and will always be a loser because you are jealous.
You can deny it all you want but your post tells me all I need to know about you. If you had any kind of intelligence and actually worked along side of or with a county employee, you would never had made your comment. As it is you have become today's number one douche bag. Go back to your computer and porn or whatever blows your skirt up and leave the rest of us alone.
State workers are already furloughed and have a reduction in pay. They are getting screwed all the way around.
ReplyDeleteI'm worried about layoffs. If there will be any, when, how many?
ReplyDeleteSigned Concerned Deputy.
cut cut cut...cut there pay and ask them to work longer. Then keep the change. Is that the change you voted for?
ReplyDeletefurlough,pay reduction all of the county employees are much better off than I am at this moment. So I have a comment that seams harsh to some of the folks on this blog and that is if you don't like how you are being treated JUST QUIT. The dealings I have with county employees gives me a inside look at how hard the majority of you don't have to work. I agree with what most of the employees are saying and would rather have a furlough then pay reduction. The thing is Pollitt says the pay reduction would be a temporary thing but he has not always been straight forward in the truth department. Most of this mess has been added to by Pollitt to begin with,recall for instance the county attorney, Ted Shea and other things.Pollitts being added to our county system has increased spending greatly where most folks thought money would be saved and to their dismay that is not happening. As a concerned citizen of Wicomico County I believe the pay cuts need to begin at the top Starting with Ricky boy himself! He could save us money and drive his own vehicle back and forth to work as well as some others in high positions. If he just had to have a mode of transportation then lets get him a energy saving scooter fuel alone would save us big time.
ReplyDelete12:27 we are supposed to find out by October 1st. Next Tuesday's Council Meeting (Sept. 14th) will tell us a lot as it is then that the council is supposed to vote on Rick's proposal. It don't look good, my friend. (by the way, thanks for all you and your collegues do for us)
ReplyDeleteIf they county is going to cut the pay they might as well give furlough days to allow these fine employees to work somewhere else of spend that time fixing up their homes or spending time with their families. Nothing like a democrat always trying to rape the tax payers.
ReplyDeleteJoe,
ReplyDeleteHere are some things that are wrong about your idea.
1. State and County workers did work 35 - 35.5 work weeks so years ago. BUT - when they were shifted to 40 weeks they did not get any additional pay for the extra time worked. (Most State employees get a stated salary not pay per hour) So if I were getting $1000.00 for working the 35.5 week that's what I got when the State went to 40 hours. Using your plan you are now going to put me back to 35.5 hours but take away what amounts to 4.5 hours of my salary. Not quite fair.
2. If I take a furlough of however many days I am paying my way twice. Remember, I like everybody else pay taxes in this State. If I lose $2000.00 dollars through a furlough, to be fair maybe the rest of the residents of the State should pay an additional $2000.00 in additional taxes. I have no more way to change the way the State of Maryland spends its money than the rest of the tax payers.
3. Maryland should spend its dollars more wisely. Last year after giving State employees furloughs amounting to 43 million dollars in savings, the State spent 123 million of your and my tax dollars buying what was essentially swamp land to preserve it from development. It is my business and you and I know that you can't develop swamp land without a permit from the State as well as the Federal Government. 123 million dollars wasted.
4. Court employees including judges don’t have to share the burden. They are exempt from furloughs. State Police are partially exempt from furloughs. People who work jobs that require 24 hour shifts are exempt from furloughs. Is this right? If the state can allow these employees to take vacation days they surely should be able to do without them long enough for their share of furlough days But, you see – furloughs for state workers only applies to Executive Branch employees because it was done by an executive order not by legislative action.
5. Oh yeah! Legislators are also exempt. The people that spend the money don’t have to answer for spending too much. Fair – Right.
It is time for the people to find people that can do things other than spend money to represent them in local, state and federal government. Government should not be balancing its budget on the backs of its workers. You bring it up all the time with all the money that has been spent on unnecessary fire fighting equipment, sweetheart deals that are struck by local government selling expensive items to their friends, and wastewater treatment plants that have no chance of ever operating correctly.
TideRunner
Hey County Workers, Wecome to reality, join the rest of the country. I personally lost 11% of my salary last December 1st and probably average 10 more hours a week. Get ready because you will here this forever, at least you have a job! Believe me once you lose it you won't be getting it back anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 12:34pm, start at the top, they are the ones getting paid to balance the budget, even dummies saw this coming, we've all been shouting and warning you, I dont see where you've prepared at all. Start at the top and add disciplinary measures as well. If you cant learn to balance it, especially cutting cost, in all thats been happening....you still spend like an unruly teenager, maybe we should just quit handing you money/taxes...can you picture a tax revolt next? Are you preparing for the worst Rick?
ReplyDeleteStop the whining. Some people don't have jobs, health insurance and so on. Be thankful for what you do have if you have a job. You have more than a lot of people in this area.
ReplyDeleteSo 2:23, would you like to take the place of a county employee one of the days they're unpaid? "Heck no," you'll say, "I won't work for free!" So why is that employee any different? No one should be unpaid for a day's labor.
ReplyDeleteFurloughs, furloughs, furloughs!
TideRunner, you're wrong. I just confirmed that the COUNTY Employees went from 35 to 40 hours a week, they DID get paid for the 5 additional hours in salary. Fact, Confirmed.
ReplyDeleteMy concern is that this proposal was done without much consideration of other options. I think the 35 hour week is the best way to go. Certainly, the savings would be greater and the employees would enjoy a shorter day and likely be just as productive.
ReplyDeletewhile voicing your preference on the blog for furloughs is good and may get some attention.... maybe you should be emailing the council members your concerns. they are elected by employees who work and live here. let them hear your voices.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDelete9:36...first of all tourism is not funded from county general funds...second it's a pretty lame idea to lay off people who bring $$$ into the local economy....don't believe it?? ask any local restaurant owner or hotelier.
10:01 AM
Looks to me like Gary Mackes is posting again while on the clock for the county again.
Rick & Council- furloughs are the way to go. Don't cut our pay with pay cuts! Services will not suffer to the taxpayers during furloughs. Deputies can make up their lost salaries with overtime. Think about all the County employees and not a select few. What about offering early retirement packages to upper salary management? There are other ways to go about this. Think before you hurt the rest of us taxpayers!
ReplyDelete10:01 ..I am not Gary Mackes...I am a local restauranteur and I don't just don't post from a viewpoint of total ignorance like you do...why not try to do a little learning and post from an informed view instead of simply conveying your total lack of information...people like you don't help the situation in this county..you make it worse with your ignorance
ReplyDeleteanonymous 3:59, I hope you're not from NY Pizzeria!
ReplyDeleteFurlough days would work. Today should have been one, just add up the aggregate amount of wasted salary for the county employees writing in to this blog alone and the time spent on the internet goofing off when they should be working.
ReplyDeleteJoe: No...I'm not.I just don't like it when some of your posters just spew ignorance and don't accept or provide facts....tourism is funded by hotel room taxes; not the general fund...and tourism efforts bring millions of dollars to the local economy...those are FACTS...the fact that the idiot I responded to has an issue with Gary Mackes apparently blinds him or her to facts.People like that are part of the problem..not part of the solutions.
ReplyDelete4:02 How do you know they weren't off?
ReplyDeleteHell, if it comes right down to it
ReplyDeleteas long as I can have my health Insurance, when it comes down to the jimmy stewart "Its a Wonderful life" thought process, I would work for Health Insurance coverage. You really can't afford to do without it.
county worker
anonymous 4:07, if YOU cannot succeed ON YOUR OWN, without the help of the County, YOU shouldn't be in business. What a crock of sh!t, seriously.
ReplyDeleteLet me guess, democrat?
It seems to me that a lot of these comments are made by county employees. Why are you on the internet reading and posting on Joe's website when we are paying you to work! To those who are off today, I apoligize, but I guarantee that the majority of people are at work.
ReplyDelete3:59 If I decide to go out to dinner this evening, you can bet the tourism office didn't have anything to do with it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am a county employee. We are saying if you take away 5 days pay, give us the days off. Close down those department for those days, and the public will just have to deal with it. If an emergency arises the sheriff's department or 911 will let us know. My suggestion will be either a 35 hour work week for everyone, or four- nine hour days. close the ferries they are nothing but a dead expense or charge everyone that uses it (then people would have an excuse to bitch and complain when they aren't running). No take home vehicles allowed no matter what, drive to work like all the rest of the employees, then if needed take county vehicle. No overtime, we have several supervisors that get half hour or hour overtime daily for doing nothing, all other employees leave at 3:30 they leave at 4:00, close down at 3:30 for everyone.
ReplyDeleteJoe great idea you are taling about about a bunch of arrogant A/Holes. I hate to beat this dead horse. I voted yes to question 'A" three years ago. As did 73% of the vote. The council blew it off like we the voters meant nothing. They still think we mean nothing till next election and then they will kiss the babies, kiss the ass. Sorry about the langauge but this has really been a sore issue with voters in this county.
ReplyDeleteThey do not want a vote that would be to much like a democracy.
They suck !
I guess you get my point. Who cares if they let the employe vote it wont mean a darn thing to these people. They have proven they have no voter integrity.
I say kiss them good bye !!!!!!
Wouldnt it be cool if the council memebers felt like they could talk, or had the guts to.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all of these comments, something occurred to me. We can handle furlough days with no reduction in services, according to many people. This tells me that WE HAVE HIRED TOO MANY EMPLOYEES. Instead of hiring more bodies, we should have replaced the bad seeds with better workers.
ReplyDeleteIt's time to start cutting the non-performers. Let the people who work hard keep their full pay! If they so choose to move to a 35 hour week for personal reasons, let them make the transition so that both the county taxpayer and the employee win.
Joe,
ReplyDeleteCorrection noted on the County employees, however the ones I talked to said that they did not get any additional pay. Maybe some did and some didn't.
I do know all to well that State employees didn't get any extra pay. As a matter of fact this is the third time we have had to take furloughs. We had them during the billy don years.
It's amazing. The banks all got their money. Wall Street got it's money. GM and Chrysler got their money. Our U.S. Congressmen, Senators, State legislatures, County and City elected officials and leaders all got their money. However, I can guarantee you that not one penny of the furlough money will be ever be returned to the workers it was taken from.
And YES, Anonymous 4:24 it would appear that some government employees may be posting during working hours. However, maybe they taking a lunch break,(most people get one)or they were on vacation or just maybe they were taking a furlough day.
Yes it is true Md. State Employees under the administration of Wm. D. Schaffer did go from working 35.5 hours to 40 hours with no increase in pay. Private companies could not get away with this, but the state did. I did not feel it was right then and I don't think it is right now. I don't know about county employees, however to reduce the work week to 35 hours and reduce pay by that amount would be a double wammy at the state level.
ReplyDeleteI am a county employee. I would rather take furlough days than a pay cut. If they take a pay cut as a percentage, I will never catch backup as all pay raises and cost of living adjustments are done as a percentage of hourly rate. I am quite aware that we all must do more with less.
ReplyDeleteAny self-supporting departments or branches of county government should be exempt.
ReplyDeleteWhy not just furlough during paid holidays, you're off without the pay, no services are lost as we're off anyway?
ReplyDeleteIm a county employee and got to say that whether it be a pay cut or furloughs either is good opposed to losing my job. However with that said I have an issue with working and not getting paid for it. I think that the County could do like the State of Delaware. Make the paycuts but give us the equivelent days off, and we can chose when to take them off. Who better to determine when we can better handle a loss of a pay then the person it is effecting. JMHO!
ReplyDeleteSo I hear that all the "heads" of departments within in the county are not going to be taking put cuts, they are the people that make the most money. Ted Shea makes 100k or more he needs to take a pay cut as well. As much as I think education is that backbone of life, teachers work 8 months out of the year but get paid like they work all 12 and they are getting a raise and everyone else taking a paycut or furlough days?
ReplyDeleteThe county needs to stop giving money to the organizations that operate in the county that really aren't part of the county, they need to do their own fundraising if they want to continue to provide services. The only one I believe should be given money is meals on wheels, we need to take care of our elderly.
I love the way all these high paid "heads" are going to tell all of us working people to take a pay cut but they are going to continue to rake in the cash.
I am a DEDICATED county employee...I would definately rather take furloughs!!! I would have some time to actually spend with my kids!(even though I am sure even if I had a day off without pay...I'd probably still work) I give the county way too much of my time for free! (BY THE WAY AN EXEMPT EMPLOYEE IS ONE WHO DOES NOT GET ANY OVERTIME PAY) So if you work 70 hours a week, You only get paid for 40!!! Granted, I make under $40k (with a college education) so the cut won't have a huge impact on me, but what about the next round of cuts!
ReplyDeleteMy thing is: the County employees that make the big bucks should be the ones that get a salary cut!! Everyday I see employees goofing off, playing on the computer, etc. Those are the employees that give those of us who bust butt to earn our pay and make the county better as a whole a bad name!
It would be nice if the employees had some say!!??
Too many chiefs and not enough Indians if you ask me!!!
*A County EE that earns their pay*
Please inform me as to when the county worked a 35 hour week. I have worked there for 15 years and someone else I work with has worked there nearly 40 years and neither can remember a 35 hour week. I don't have enough time in a 40 hour week to get done what I need to do. The only people I can think of that may have had a 35 hour week were Administrative Positions , mostly at the GOB.
ReplyDelete11:19 AM Said,
"Government workers have it too good already. I don't feel sorry for them."
Please elaborate on that.
The comment regarding the fact that some private sector jobs have had paycuts. Private sector positions in relationship to the same position at the county are apples to oranges regarding salary. The county is always below market in their salaries. The draw is supposed to be job security. We sacrifice pay for job security, now, we will be sacrificing pay and job security.
12:34 PM Said,
"The dealings I have with county employees gives me a inside look at how hard the majority of you don't have to work."
Why don't you people elaborate on this stuff. All these accusations about people sleeping, not working hard enough, PROVE IT. NAME NAMES, VEHICLE DESCRIPTIONS, ETC. I am tired of busting my a$$ at work to provide for the citizens and constantly being generalized into a category of lazy.
The furlogh days seem a little more fair to me, but it is true that I am just thankful to have a job. With a furlough day, I can work up a side job or something. Going to 4 nine hour days will be difficult for parents to have to modify or now have to pay for after school care that they didn't have to before. Maybe go to a 7.5 hour day instead of an 8 hour day.
How about this, encourage the employees who have been around for 30 years or more to retire, maybe even offer them some sort of incentive to retire. Many of them think the place could not funtion without them, however, they are wrong.
I am sure if not with this round, but next round of cuts, we will see layoffs. Hopefully the layoffs will be done fairly, such as by seniority, and truly evaluating specific positions to see if the bad economy has left certain positions with little or nothing to do. No looking out for the good old boys, no retaliation (which happens).
I find it amazing that with all these comments no one has suggested what should be an obvious answer-cut some of the social programs.Not to the elderly but those that benefit what I call "breeders".Lets face it everyone else has or will sacrifice something.Workers in the private sector are getting laid off,county and other public employees are being forced to work for less pay but has anyones welfare check been reduced or cut out?Why should people who refuse to work be any different from those who do?They cost taxpayers and the county/state a fortune-lets start there when we trim the budget!
ReplyDeleteI also am a county employee and I have no problem with doing my part in order to help in these budget crunching times however I do resent having to work for the designated number of days and not get paid for it. I would much rather spend time with my family or do those things around the house that I never seem to have time for. So I am very much in favor of the furloughs. By the way, the only COUNTY EMPLOYEES exempt from this are those that would fall below minimum wage should they receive a paycut. Therefore the deputies and court employees are affected by the salary reductions.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few ideas-
ReplyDelete1)One of the biggest mistakes businesses and organizations make is forgetting what they're there to do.
Get a laser-sharp focus on the core functions of county government and strip it down to that framework.
Functions like the Visitors Center are nice, but not necessary, especially in this crunch.
2) There are some very hi-$$ people like Ted Shea and Gary Mackes who have more than enough time in to retire.. they need to be urged to do what's best for the county in this financial crisis and retire, freeing up the $$ for those salaries/benefits. I'm sure there are quite a few others who could retire, as well. Better that they go now, receiving retirement than (many) others go with nothing. Some others could be moved up, and some of their old positions could be left vacant for now. Sure, it means some will have to work a little harder, but but if the non-core government functions are eliminated, there will be less work to be done.
3:06-Chapter 25 of the policy handbook states that if the County is ever in a situation in which they have to lay-off, the employees with the most seniority will be considered first. However, Administration is currently trying to find a way around the policy. Joe-please request a copy of the Employee handbook, chapter 25, I believe.
ReplyDeleteI have an idea...why don't we cut WELFARE???? Alot of people on welfare can get a job just like the rest of us!!!!!! That totally disgusts me!!
ReplyDeleteAre those on welfare getting a their pay decreased???? NOPE
I understand their are people that need help...but I have a disability and I manage 2 jobs!!
Something is really wrong with this picture!!!
FYI,county teachers have the option of being paid full pay for 9months (no pay in the summer) or spreading their pay evenly throughout the 12 months.So, being off in the summer and still getting paid has nothing to do with the budget shortfall.
ReplyDeleteAnother possibility might be to outsource some functions that can be done for less by outside organizations (provided they can be done right).
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't Rick offer an incentive for older employees to retire? Maybe if he offered say 5 years more to their retirement calculation some of the one's with 25 years or more would leave and the younger workers could stay as they are the future. We know this can be done, look at what Ricky did for Ed Baker, of course that's all being kept hush hush. Just try getting someone from HR or Administration to speak about this.
ReplyDeleteI'm a county employee and have heard the Rick made the comment that employee's were for the pay cut instead of furlough days. What I would like to know is what employees did Rick talk to? One's in his own office who would not disagree with him? I know he never came to or asked anyone in our department what they thought of any of this even though we are the ones affected.
ReplyDeleteThe major functions of county government include law enforcement, the recording of deeds and other documents, and the provision and maintenance of public works such as roads and parks ...
ReplyDelete(From a Fairfax Co., VA website):
"The core, necessary functions of the
County government - police; fire; emergency response; schools;
zoning, property maintenance, and health and safety code enforcement; transportation and infrastructure; and health – should be top priorities.
Government must operate efficiently and responsively. Government should establish priorities. Core functions and priorities should be properly funded and well managed. Programs
that are ineffective or no longer necessary should be eliminated. Programs that are useful but do
not involve core functions should be subject to the people’s ability to pay."
"The school superintendent needs to be an active participant in the effort to achieve cost savings. The County and Schools should try to work together on some administrative functions to reduce costs. For
example, Human Resource functions and the vehicle fleet (not buses) could be combined to achieve economies of scale and reduce overhead."
"In the long term, the County needs to focus more on efficiency and innovation and less on expansion. Our economic troubles are likely to continue for some time, and the core
functions of government must be preserved and strengthened, and not diluted by unnecessary spending."
"In the short term, we are in a critical period regarding the County’s budget. The council
needs to act responsibly to pull us through the current crisis. We are faced with two distasteful
choices: endure significant reductions in programs and services people have come to depend on
and/or enjoy, or face a crippling increase in residential property taxes during a deep recession. Individual agencies have drawn up lists of proposed cuts, but there has been no apparent effort to look at systemic changes in the way the government is structured or does
business."
"The County should move toward a new paradigm in the provision of human services and various assistance programs. In a traditional model of government, it is government that looks at a community, identifies what it thinks are the problems, designs a government program to implement them, and then spends money to try to solve a problem. In the new paradigm, government takes on more of a facilitative role. Government brings together community leaders, business, faith-based groups, and individuals to look at a community. This group identifies areas of strength around which the community can build. It also identifies challenges faced by the community and looks for ways all the community stakeholders – civic, business, faith-based, and government– can work together in new and innovative ways. Some of these solutions may involve government programs. Some may not. But by involving community leaders both in the identification of challenges and in the effort to met those challenges, this new paradigm offers a more effective and neighborhood-based process for addressing community challenges. Our political leaders need to get behind this new paradigm and realize that establishing a new spending program isn’t always the best way to
help a community. Bringing together people, resources, and ideas in a collaborative approach is often more effective."
So, I guess the best solution might be-- make Debbie Campbell the County executive.
Joe: Exactly what part of my 4:07 post are you referring to? What in it can be inferred to mean I am relying on the county???
ReplyDeleteI simply made the point that tourism is an economic generator and it is NOT FUNDED FROM LOCAL RESIDENTS TAX DOLLARS? Rather it generates economic activity and in doing so pays for itself many many times over.
I was also responding the the cheap shots several of your posters like to take rather than responding with facts.....and then YOU...the host respond with your own ignorant cheap shot....fansy yourself a journalist...start acting like one
I will repeat, once again. I am NOT a journalist. I am a Blogger.
ReplyDeleteI am a county employee and in my opinion they should let the workers who are affected decide what to do. Furlough days would benefit more people rather than cutting our pay and making us still work the same hours. Go to a 4 day work week and then you would save on operating the building for one whole day, which over the year would save tons of money.
ReplyDelete